Boiler Insurance Cover Guide

Added On: 13/07/2008

6 Ratings

Getting a CORGI gas or boiler engineer to your home can cost over £70 per hour, and that’s not even including spare parts. You might be considering boiler insurance to give you piece of mind and to save you money, but what should you be looking out for?

Boiler insurance could be a good idea if you’d like the security of knowing that your gas boiler and central heating will be repaired and made safe in the event of a breakdown.

But what is boiler insurance or central heating insurance, what should you expect, and do you really need it? Our boiler insurance cover and heating insurance guide will explain all…

Do I need boiler insurance?

You should consider the age of your boiler. Have you just had your boiler installed? If this is the case, then the boiler will probably be covered by a manufacturer warranty, so insurance wouldn’t be necessary. It is worth remembering that the warranty would only cover the boiler and not your central heating, you might still want to consider central heating insurance that excludes boiler cover.

However, it’s worth noting that new statistics show that 1 in 6 boilers break down within the first 6 years of installation. We generally say that if your boiler is over 3 years old, or the manufacturer warranty has expired, then it’s worth having boiler insurance.

An average boiler repair call-out costs around £220, and a new boiler can cost anything from £700 to over £2500 depending on the property, so having insurance at under £6 per month starts to make sense.

Your boiler might also be covered by your house insurance so check this too, no point in having your boiler insured twice!

If you want peace of mind and the assurance that you can have any boiler problems fixed by making one phone call, then boiler insurance would work well for you.

It is worth noting that if you’re renting a property then it is not your responsibility to insure your boiler, get in touch with your landlord or estate agent and make sure they look after and service your boiler (they must do this by law).

What boiler insurance is best for my property?

This is a tricky one as the insurance offered by each provider is very different. We would recommend checking USwitch.com, as they have a comparison tool that is pretty handy at breaking down the different criteria for you.

Take a look below at our ‘What should I expect from my boiler insurance?’ tips, where we tell you what general things you should look for when buying boiler insurance.

It’s very important to check the terms and conditions of the various products, and the exclusions that are applied; they will vary from provider to provider.

Do I really need central heating insurance?

Central heating faults can be hard to find and expensive to repair so many people get central heating insurance as part of their boiler insurance. It is worth remembering though that most companies (like Homeserve) offer products that mix and separate the two, so you can have boiler insurance or central heating insurance on their own, or combined.

Do check your home insurance, because sometimes boilers and central heating are covered by your existing policy.

Also, if you have already got boiler insurance and you’re looking to switch to a new cheaper policy then make sure your current policy can be cancelled first, as some policies have clauses that tie you in for a fixed period of time and may have cancellation charges.

Boiler service and safety

Having your boiler regularly serviced (every year) is extremely important. A boiler with a gas leak can be fatal, and can cause huge amounts of damage to your home. Leaking carbon monoxide and leaking natural gas can be fatal very quickly, and are very hard to detect.

Any damage to your home due to a gas fire may not be covered by your house insurance if you have not had your service completed on time.

The vast majority of boiler insurance products, such as those from Homeserve, offer a yearly boiler service as standard, at no extra cost to you. When you consider that a boiler service can cost anything from £70-£200, it’s usually pretty good value especially when you may be paying only £6 per month.

What should I expect from my boiler insurance?

Boiler insurance varies hugely between providers, but you can expect a certain level of service and response for your money. Here are a few things that we think you should be looking for when signing up to boiler insurance.

24 hour helpline

You should be able to call a phone line 24 hours a day and have an emergency call-out to your home 24 hours a day. Thankfully this is offered as standard by most good boiler insurance providers.

Old boilers, is mine eligible?

Boilers over 15 years old are not covered by a number of different boiler insurance providers so make sure you fit the criteria before signing up. However, Homeserve have recently changed their criteria to allow a huge number of previously-excluded boilers so take a look and see if your boiler qualifies.

Emergency gas boiler repairs

Your boiler has broken down so you can reasonably expect the engineer to fix it. There is usually a part costs limit, which will vary. If your boiler is beyond economical repair then you should expect a payment to be made towards a new boiler (this £ amount will vary depending on the insurance products, but it can range from £200-500). Do remember that what you consider to be an emergency, such as a lack of hot water, may not be seen as an emergency by your insurance company, so check the terms and conditions.

Boiler pump repairs

Boiler pumps are covered by most boiler insurance products, but check to make sure as the boiler pumps can stop working.

Gas boiler leak repairs

A gas leak can be very serious for you and your family, as leaking carbon monoxide can kill very quickly. Make sure your insurance policy covers gas leaks, although it almost certainly will.

Gas boiler electrical fault repairs

As your boiler gets older you could find that it has electrical problems, and they can be costly to correct so make sure this is part of the policy.

Yearly gas boiler service

Some boiler insurance policies will also include a yearly service, like the Gas Boiler Insurance" target="_blank" href="http://tr.premieraffiliates.com/t/url.php/cid/337/sid/319">Homeserve Gas Boiler Insurance and Annual Service policy. It is important to keep your boiler well-maintained to reduce the chances of a breakdown and to keep your boiler running safely and efficiently. If you are a landlord then you are required by law to have an Annual CP12 Boiler Safety Certificate, so any landlord should make sure this is included in their policy.

CORGI Gas engineers

All repairs to gas boilers must by law only be repaired by a qualified CORGI gas engineer, so make sure the company insure with only uses qualified engineers.

No Claims period

Many products available have a no-claims period of around 30 days, so you cannot call out an engineer within the first 30 days of you buying their insurance. This is to stop people buying insurance then immediately claiming. Check the terms and conditions of the insurance you are looking at to see if this applies, and decide whether it is an issue or not.

What sorts of things aren’t covered?

Certain types of buildings don’t qualify for many boiler insurance products, such as apartments in shared buildings and mobile homes that don’t have fixed wiring (like caravans).

If you live in a shared apartment block then check with your landlord or the building owner, as they may well offer some sort of policy that you can join.

Things such as the repair of overflow pipes may not be covered either (these are usually called ‘remedial repairs’), so check the terms and conditions carefully.

How much is boiler insurance?

Boiler insurance starts from £6 per month from Homeserve, and goes up from there. For this sort of price you get boiler repairs and emergency call-outs at a fixed cost of £50 per repair. When you consider that the average boiler call-out cost is around £220, it starts to make sense.

Take a look at the various products available from Homeserve (our personal favourite), or get onto USwitch.com and compare all the different products out there!

Boiler terms glossary

Annual CP12 Boiler Safety Certificate : The Annual CP12 Boiler Safety Certificate is required by law to be carried out by landlords every year. Landlords are required to provide a copy to their tenants. This safety certificate confirms that the boiler is safe to be used by the tenants for the period of one year.

Beyond economical repair : If a boiler is deemed to be ‘beyond economical repair’ then it is not economically feasible to do repair the boiler. This may be because the unit cannot be fixed, or the costs are too high. Usually boiler insurance companies will offer a one-off contribution towards the cost of a new boiler, the amount given varies between policies.

Boiler : A boiler is a gas, electricity or solid fuel powered heating device that provides hot tap water and home central heating.

Boiler gas flue : A boiler gas flue is the pipe that gets rid of poisonous gases that the boiler produces. It is important that this has no leaks so check the terms and conditions to see if this is covered by your boiler insurance policy.

Boiler insurance companies : There are a number of boiler insurance company providers in the market, the main ones being Homeserve and British Gas. NPower and Domgen also offer boiler and gas central heating insurance policies.

Boiler pump : A boiler pump is a mechanical unit which pumps your water through to your boiler for heating, or from a storage tank to your boiler.

Call-out : One call-out is defined as a single visit to a home by an engineer. A call-out fee may be charged by your boiler insurance provider even if no repair work is carried out, so check the small-print. Some policies will count individual boiler faults as a new unique call-out, so one visit from an engineer could be counted as 2 call-outs if there is more than one fault. Check the terms and conditions!

Carbon Monoxide : Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a gas that has no smell, taste or colour, but it can cause serious harm to yourself and your family. Check our Carbon Monoxide symptoms article to learn how to spot if you have Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Some symptoms include headaches, nausea and blurred vision.

Cold water storage tank : A cold water storage tank is featured in system-type boilers, and feeds cold water to the hot water heating tank. This will not be included in your boiler insurance cover.

Commercial property : A commercial property is a location where the primary use is for business or commercial purposes. Home-based offices can often be covered by boiler insurance so contact your boiler insurance company for qualification.

CORGI : CORGI is the national watchdog for gas safety in the United Kingdom. They aim to make people safer when they use trades people by only giving fully-trained the certified CORGI qualification. Only CORGI gas engineers are legally allowed to repair or service boilers.

Gas boiler leak : A gas boiler leak is very serious, and can cause serious harm or even death. If you suspect your boiler is leaking natural gas then call your boiler insurance company immediately.

Gas boiler service : All gas boilers should have an annual boiler service, to ensure they are well-maintained and safe. An annual boiler service includes safety checks on the essential boiler components. It is not currently required by law, however it is highly recommended as it will keep your bills down and make your home safe.

Hot water cylinder : A hot water cylinder is a storage tank that hold the heated water from the boiler, and is only present in system-type boilers.

Insurance product : An insurance product is something you can buy from an insurance business that provides repairs to your boiler should it breakdown.

Overflow pipe : The pipe that goes from a water appliance, feeding excess water safety from your home into a drain.

Payment plan : A payment plan lays out when and how much you must pay to get your boiler insurance cover. For example, your payment plan could require you to pay £5.99 per month for 12 months. A variety of different plans will be available from your boiler insurance company, as them for more details.

Radiator : A unit that provides heat to a room often via hot water which is heated by your boiler. Radiators can also be electric-powered, these will also not qualify for repair cover.

Remedial repairs : Repairs that are deemed to be home-related repairs and not boiler repairs. The list can be long and exhaustive so check their terms and conditions. 2 common remedial work repairs that would not always be covered by your boiler insurance are repairs to your water overflow pipes or to your boiler gas flue.